"Fine Line"
"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." –Anais Nin
Chapter 28: The Not-Date Date
~***~
I didn't know what it was that made my mouth run and say I'd go change. I could have easily said no, I was busy, shut the door on his face and returned to my painting.
But for some reason, I didn't do those things at that time; and instead, I found his offer of repaying me back tempting. I wondered if it's because I hadn't ate anything since breakfast, and am currently starving like nuts? Or perhaps it's because it's the prospect of free food? Well…technically it isn't free since I did dish out money for him before, and now he's returning the favor through dinner.
Maybe it was just that the paint in my own room was starting to suffocate me with their constant company. I guess I just wanted some sort of real human company at the time. I mean, I know I'm the one who refuses and is always reluctant to hang out or go to parties, but then, what human can possibly spend their whole life in solitude? I know that...I can't, even if I want to. I just start to miss the sounds and voices of people mingling and talking if I tried. Maybe that's why I try so hard sometimes to keep Aya and the rest around, because I know that if I lost them, I'd be struggling and suffering for the remainder of my life trying to get friends. So I wanted to keep them around, keep them as my friends- that way, I wont have to find new ones, and so I know there will always be someone out there I can turn to if I felt lonely.
A sigh escaped my lips and I saw Marui raise an eyebrow at me from the driver's seat through the side mirrors.
"What's up?" He asked, blowing a bubble and training his eyes on the road once again.
Shaking my head, I forced a smile. "Nothing."
"That's what you said just now too." He commented dryly.
"That's because there really isn't anything wrong!" I grounded out and sunk back into my seat, sulking.
A pop. "Right. I believe you." Obviously he didn't, what with his sarcastic tone.
I ignored him and faced out the window again, watching the city pass by. I didn't know where he was taking me, and I didn't really care at the moment. So long as I got back home in one piece. I had a lot of work to do for my course at college as usual, seeing as it was an art course and we were required to finish a minimum amount of paintings every week. But I was a bit tired of locking myself in my house and needed to get out. I guess Marui came about at the right moment, and returned my phone to boot.
…Perhaps my imaginary world was starting to bore me a little.
Before ever heading to Club Prism, the worlds that I imagined and painted always had everything I ever wanted and need; because they were the creation of my hearts deepest wishes.
But then there was Club Prism and Club Sacred with all their charming and quirky hosts, then Prisma Festival with its great festivities and wondrous activities and many other small moments with the people that I've met the past weeks and month (which is more than the number of people I knew in middle school and high school together!). All this exposure to what life can give me, to what reality can give me; it had slowly started to ebb away the great contentment which I find in the comforts of my mind.
I felt as if everything was starting to change for me- within me.
And I don't know if I like the change.
"We're here." I was pulled out of my thoughts when Marui spoke, and I stared out the window on his side, glancing up at a—
"Nikko Hotel?!"
~***~
Go figure.
I should have guessed at some point that this man's hobby was visiting hotel buffets.
But even so, driving all the way here to this hotel- which is no ram shackle off the street slop of a hotel- just to eat their buffet for dinner was too much. Not only is it expensive, but its also located quite far out from my home, and smacked right dab in the center of the city with all its congestion and night pedestrians.
My eye twitched as I watched Marui finish his 3rd plate, stuffed pile high with food. I was only on my first!
"Do you even chew…?" I asked with a bit of annoyance leaking into my voice.
His eyes narrowed at me in an almost condescending way, and he waved his fork –which was stabbing a piece of well-grilled salmon- in front of my face. "You think I'd still be breathing if I didn't? I'd have choked~!"
"……you don't look like you chew."
"Hey, a man needs his calories~" He hummed before ridding the fork of its salmon.
"…..right." I never questioned his fast eating habits anymore after that, figuring that he'd give me some sort of explanation which would never make sense to me. Ever.
I thought that we'd end up eating at a simple restaurant or something, with an appetizer, or just a main course then dessert and we're off. But nooo, we're at a buffet. And this was Marui we're talking about. I'm not surprised if the buffet owner cried tonight from the loss of revenue, courtesy of Marui's excessive consumption. It's a wonder how he never gets fat. I wonder if he works out, or just have a very high rate of metabolism.
I was pretty much full when I finished my second plate of food, but Marui still has space for a fifth serving. I could not help but watch in amazement as he wiped all his plates clean, at a frightening pace to boot, and still look refined doing it.
The Gods aren't fair with how they distribute good points to people obviously…
I sipped at my watermelon juice (Wow, watermelons don't come cheap here…and they made juice out of it…) and sulked. I must be near my time of the month or something, as I noticed I was really broody as of late.
I noticed a lot of girls, teens and young adults, who are here with their families or rich boyfriends, staring at our table. I figured it out all too quickly that it was because of the man sitting across from me.
I lost count of how many girls I've caught sneaking glances at the redhead and then quickly looking away again when someone at their table spoke, or to try and avoid detection by their sharp-eyed mothers.
Usually a girl would feel proud if her date was receiving so much detention, albeit inconspicuous. But I only felt a small twinge of anger the first few times I caught it, then nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
It wasn't as if Marui is my boyfriend or anything; and we're not on a date. So there was nothing for me to be proud of. We're just here cause he wanted to return the favor. And I don't think I feel that way towards Marui so strongly…
There was something there, I know for sure now. The first time I felt it- when Ruriko kissed him- I was scared and confused. Scared because I never actually felt like this about a male before. Scared because I didn't know what I should do about it, or how I should react. Confused because I could not find a strong enough of a reason for me to like Marui. My heart might have made a small and minimal jump upon seeing him at the door, and I might have overreacted due to my sudden racing mind and slammed the door in his face, but it was a passing crush, definitely.
He had been an overall sweet and nice guy, towards me and others. Towards, Aya, Asuka, Rinko, Yura…and even Ruriko! Maaaaybe he was a little mean to Kirihara, but I'm sure he was doing it out of jest and cause he has the seniority rights.
But Kirihara was a guy.
I was a girl. And so were the many other people he was nice to.
And he was a host.
That's where the confusion started.
~***~
I looked up from my food to find Kumiko staring off to the side, chin propped on her open palm, lost in her thoughts.
She seemed to be thinking a lot today for some reason.
And she keeps telling me that nothing is wrong. Obviously something is. I know her silence enough (heck, she's quiet most of the time) to know what kind of a look she has when she's just daydreaming or not paying attention, or when she's deep in thought. Like now.
…..people might say its creepy how I notice these things but hey, I'm a host and a damn good athlete. I got a sharp eye and sense! And it was because of this that today, when I returned her cell to her, I felt that she needed to get out of that house (who knows how long she's been locking herself in there!). She just looked…extremely glum and pale (probably lack of sunlight), standing at the door with her equally near-dead eyes blinking away from me. I felt that it was the right time to repay her, and at the same time save her from her own self-imposed agony; killing two birds with one stone! Genius, isn't it?
She blinked out of her reverie suddenly, and shifted to look at me.
It looked as if she wanted to say something, but hesitance was scrawled all across her face. She's so easy to read, like an elementary school book.
I sighed and waved my spoon in a circle lazily (I was currently contenting myself with crabmeat soup). "Just say it."
She bit her lip once, looking down at her plate before glancing back up at me from beneath shadowed eyes.
"Have you ever…." She trailed off.
"Ever?"
"….ever liked…one of your customers before?" She asked timidly and I blinked.
That was…unexpected.
"Umm…well, they are mostly nice people and all-" I began but she cut me off.
"No- as in, "like" like."
Oh…that "like" like.
I scratched the back of my head in slight relief and awkwardness. Well, the answer to that is simple, really.
"It's against company rules for us to engage in anything more than friendship with our customers."
It didn't matter what we did with them, just like what Niou is doing as a Night Lover type.
As long as we kept our feelings out of it.
That's what all those training we had before being initiated as a Club Prism host was for.
~***~
Huh…figures that they'd have a rule like that.
I guess…that would make things easier for me then:
There will never be a Marui Bunta and me.
If I told myself that, and knew that it was true (especially with that rule), then perhaps, this alien feeling would disappear in time.
I was sure of it.
And because I was so sure, my face brightened up considerably that Marui blinked at me in suspicion and surprise.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked me suspiciously.
I must have been very gloomy that night for him to regard me with such suspicion just for smiling. "Nothing~ just suddenly thought I'd go get dessert."
At the word dessert, even his suspicious face was wiped off instantly and replaced with one much brighter and joyous than mine.
"You have got to try out their mixed platter here~! It's damn good." He emphasized on the two words just to get his point of how great this mixed platter was.
I stood up and nodded. "Okay then."
He stood up too. "I'll go and get some too~!" He piped, and I can clearly see that he was very enthusiastic about the mixed platter.
There was a very small hint of a jump to his steps as he made his way over to the dessert table, and I could see a few people in the restaurant raising amused eyebrows at him, finding it a unusual but enlightening sight to see a groomed man walking like a kid towards an ice-cream truck which, in this case, is exactly like that scenario.
He passed me a bowl as soon as I stopped next to him, and I could only stare curiously at the various bowls scattered across the table in some sort of complex pattern which I can't decipher…..at least it looked nice.
"What kind of a dessert is this..?" I asked, not seeing anything special. The cakes and such were all located on another larger table at the other side. This table held bowls containing various types of…things. Such as red beans, sweet corn bits, this green worm-like thing, bits of fruits, cocktail dressings and other assortments of things.
Marui rolled his tongue around his mouth for a moment before replying. "I'm not too sure myself, but it supposedly originated from Southeast Asia. But whatever~!"
He scooped a spoonful of red bean into his bowl, and then plopped a spoonful into mine as well, to my surprise. Then he proceeded to put other things into his and mine. "You basically put whatever you want in..." A forkful of that worm-like thing was placed into my bowl, " and then you hand your bowl to this guy here…" He took both my bowl and his and handed it to the man across the table. I watched as the man smiled at us and took the bowls, then placed them under a machine which then produced shaved ice on top of the bowl, creating a mini ice mountain. He gave the bowls back to us.
Marui led me to the end of the table and it was here that there are more bowls, filled with different colored liquids instead. "You season whatever you want of these things into your bowl…" Grabbing the spoons provided, he scooped various types of the liquid into his and my bowl, and by the end of it, our ice mountains were rainbow mountains. "I personally like putting condensed milk onto it, which is a must anyhow, and then chocolate and strawberry flavoring. I just threw in the vanilla today for the heck of it….you want some ice-cream to go with yours?"
I didn't know what this thing is anyhow so I nodded, and I was a bit stone shocked from the things he mixed into our bowls. Is it really edible? Mixing so many things like that…
"What flavor do you want?" He asked, eyeing the ice-cream containers.
"Strawberry." The answer came instantly.
He blinked at me and smirked. "Heh. Me too."
Who knew we have so many things in common and yet, be totally incompatible.
Marui: - Bright lavender eyes
Striking crimson hair
Self-proclaimed genius
Egoist
Athlete (according to him just now)
Glutton
Persistent
Sweets lover
Kumiko: - Dull brown eyes
Equally plain brown hair
Average grades student
Self-esteem issues
Artist
Abstainer
Feeble
Sweets lover
….I take back what I said. We don't have much in common after all.
I poked at my…rainbow of ice curiously and dubiously, while Marui just started chomping down on his as soon as we got back to our seats. "How…do you eat this thing?"
Marui raised an amused eyebrow at me and mocked demonstrated to me how to eat it. "First you stick your spoon into it, scoop out a portion of it, lift the spoon and voila!" He swallowed a bite.
"………" I deadpanned at him and he laughed.
I looked at his bowl, and saw that he had flattened down the ice as much as possible into the bowl, and mixed it with the foods that he's placed at the bottom. I followed his lead.
The dessert, whatever it was, is surprisingly good. I liked it so much that I went back for seconds and Marui could not help but smugly comment "I told you so."
It was sweet and tangy, and all the various bits of food we placed into made it fun to eat, as we can mix and match depending on our preferences. Shyly, I leaned over the table and asked the person who shaved the ice into our bowls what it was called. He smiled and said that it was a dessert commonly eaten in the Southeastern Asia countries Malaysia and Singapore, called ABC.
"A…B…C?" I let the letters roll off my tongue, finding it funny and cute that its name was just a bunch of letters put together.
"Huh, I never knew." Marui said as he rubbed his chin in thought and I rolled my eyes at him. "That's cause you're more concentrated on eating it."
He shrugged, not denying my statement but only went to further prove it by getting more of this dessert.
By my second bowl, I figured I should try the other desserts rather than constantly eat this. I knew that after Marui was done with his (add one or two more bowls of ABC perhaps), he'll grab some cakes for himself. Deciding to be nice a little as thanks for treating me, I grabbed his share of cakes as well and piled them all neatly onto two separate plates.
He blinked up at me and offered me a lighthearted smile when I placed the plate in front of him. "Thanks~!"
I returned a small smile of my own. "You're welcome..."
We spent an hour or so just sitting there and…talking, once we're done. We nibbled a little bit on the leftovers (which Marui could NOT finish, to my great shock) as we chattered aimlessly.
Marui stretched and fell back onto his chair, a contented sigh escaping his lips. "Uwaah~ I'm so full."
"After stuffing all that down, I'm surprised you're still able to sit upright." I commented wryly and giggled.
Lavender eyes narrowed at me in joke anger, and then they lightened up again. "I'll go and get the bill." He stood up and made his way over to the counter. I decided to go freshen up in the ladies room first before meeting up with him outside the restaurant entrance.
"I'll send you home now then." He said as I slipped into the car at the parking lot.
I paused in my seat, hand poised around the seatbelt. I gave him a sidelong glance and asked meekly, "Can we go somewhere else first?"
He cocked his head to the side curiously but then shrugged his shoulders. "Don't see the harm. Atobe doesn't need me back at the Club anyways…" Irritation seemed to leak into his last sentence and I can't help but smile.
I gave him directions to the place where we're headed as he drove, and the further we got, the higher his eyebrows rose. We were near the edge of a city, in between the area where its part metropolis and part countryside. The tall, modern and concrete buildings started thinning out here, and transitioned into green grasslands with train rails running across a side of it.
Pointing my finger, he turned the car down the path I pointed at, bringing us to a road that ended in front of a fairly high stone staircase, leading up to an old temple above.
We got out of the car, and Marui casted me a weird glance. "Why are we here?"
I shook my head and gave a light shrug. "I just felt that, after stuffing all that food down, it'll be unhealthy to head straight home and leave it there in our stomachs. Its better to walk a bit and let it digest."
Marui scratched his cheek in thought. "I thought walking after eating was unhealthy?"
"…..I don't know." We gave each clueless and amused stares and shrugged off the topic completely.
"Well, I'm kinda stuffed anyway. If I head home now, I'll just kick back and play games, so I guess this is fine." He said as he started up the stairs and I followed behind (I was wearing a dress, so I didn't want to climb ahead of him…).
The temple was old, and nobody's been here for a long while now, from the looks of it. Despite its old and near ancient look, this abandoned place painted a calm and serene atmosphere, and invoked nostalgia in me.
~***~
Kumiko walked around to the back of the temple and I followed suit, getting the vibe that she knew this place.
This place was basically abandoned, from what I can see. The grasses were overgrown, the walls musty and floor dusty. Despite this though, I thought that this place must have looked beautiful back in its days.
The Sakura trees, although not in bloom right now, was still here, void of its leaves. One was located directly in the center of the courtyard upon us entering, and others were scattered across the temple grounds. If I had the time now, or if I was still back in high school or middle school, I'd come here to train or relax. It was definitely really serene here, even at this late hour and I felt it must be really relaxing and just…soul-cleansing, for lack of a better word, if I came here in the wee hours of the morning before sunrise.
And I was proven right further when I arrived to where Kumiko is at the back, overlooking the fields below the temple hill.
"You can see the sunrise here, if you come early." She said in a quiet voice.
"Huh…" I didn't really have much to say right now. Or rather, I felt I shouldn't talk so much, as to not break the fragile silence over this place. The silence, the quietness of this place…it just fits right in. I can't imagine it, nor will I like it, being noisy with life here. It'd completely kill the tranquility.
I noticed a stone not too far from where we stood, so I went over, dusted it off a bit and took a seat. It didn't seem like Kumiko wanted to leave this place anytime soon.
I watched as her hand rose, and started tracing invisible lines in the space in front of her, as if she was painting the landscape before her.
"It'd be nice if we could see the sunrise right now." I said suddenly, randomly. The words just came out of me as I appraised the landscape. I tried to imagine the sun rising overhead, and could just see the green lands and cool brown paths beaming with lively sun gold. But my mostly left-sided dominant brain disallowed me from painting a whole landscape, one that looks ethereal anyways, unlike the girl standing foots away from me.
"Yea, it'll be great if the sun would rise right now." She finally replied to my comment earlier after a momentary pause in her tracing. Another pause. Then with hands folding behind her, she turned to me and gave me a small, yet minutely glum smile. "I used to come here a lot with my parents."
I straightened, figuring I should at least look like I was paying attention to her words, which I was. In fact, I was quite interested. There wasn't much that I knew about her, other than she was an art major student at college, and was an extreme goody-two-shoes and quiet (or shy).
"Used to?" My sharp hearing (and brain) instantly picked out the past tense in her sentence. I wondered if anything happened to her parents…that'd be tragic.
"This used to be a Shinto shrine, and they came here often to pray when I was younger." She explained, gesturing around at remains of the temple. "I don't know when, but they suddenly stopped coming here…" Her normally dull eyes just seemed to turn duller and darker.
"I guess it must have been around the time their company took a big boom…" She trailed off, and I prodded her to continue. "What do you mean?"
A sigh bubbled from her, and her eyes slid close in a frown. "They started becoming so busy that…they didn't have time anymore to come here I guess, after their company went big…" I thought she would have cried. She sounded like it. "Then the business trips started."
Huh, no wonder she lives alone. Her parents are away, on a business trip, rather than just staying at another house somewhere else while she attends college. "You miss them?" I asked, surprised that my voice came out quieter and low than normal.
She rubbed the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh. "I guess I do…I mean, I don't see them often as they are away most of the time now, dealing with international companies…." She 'guess' she missed her parents? How can she 'guess' she missed her parents? I mean, if you miss someone, you miss someone! You don't just…'guess' you miss them.
"I think I miss the old them; not them."
Those words were vague, yet told a whole tale.
~***~
We came here often, me and my parents, when I was younger. When I was around 12, almost 13 years old, their company just suddenly started climbing the corporate ladder and then, we just stopped coming here.
And I guess people stopped coming to this place altogether, from the looks of the place.
This place just holds a sentimental place in me…perhaps that's why I asked Marui to bring me here; I haven't come here in awhile. Five years to be exact.
"Sorry for making you bring me here," I apologized as I turned around and began a slow pace towards him. "I must have bored you."
He scoffed and said in a near-obnoxious voice, "It's fine. Besides, I think I found a new morning roadwork area~." Pop.
I merely smiled and nodded. This was the place where a big chunk of my bond with my parents were made, so I felt a small twinge disappointment to see that no one came here any longer.
Marui stood up from his seat and stretched, a huge yawn leaving him. "Can we go?" He asked, almost childishly.
I rolled my eyes at him and nodded. "Yea, we can go."
We started on a slow climb down the long road of steps, Marui idly hopping down them at intervals, and I snail-ed after him. I had to be more careful going down the stairs than when I was heading up them, knowing my ungraceful trait; I didn't feel up to falling flat on my face and embarrassing the hell out of myself in front of the only guy who has ever sparked any small remote feeling of interest.
And yet, I also knew I had terrible luck. Which is why I could only curse the heavens above when my shoe heels suddenly broke as I placed my foot down on a step.
"Sh-!!" I nearly cursed my arms swinging around to regain my center of gravity. Marui turned around to see what was wrong just as I finally gained hold of my balance again, luckily.
He walked back up a few steps to check out what was wrong. "What happened?"
I sighed and lifted my foot to show him what the problem was. His mouth formed an 'O' when he saw the broken heel, which I promptly broke off. I knew I always had a reason for disliking high-heels and pumps.
He turned around to gauge the distance to the bottom and looked back at me. "Well, it's not too far down, you can walk fine without your shoes on for awhile, right?"
"Yea…I guess." I groaned and bent over to remove my heels. Great, now I have to wash my feet when I get back.
Admittedly, I was able to move faster down the stairs without my heels on now, although it was slightly prickly to walk down the stone steps without anything protecting the soles of my feet.
Marui arrived at his car before me, and entered it to run the engine as I reached the last step.
My heart dropped a notch however, when I heard that ill foreboding sound that was painful to any driver's ears…
"You've got to be kidding me!" The redhead exclaimed and tried to rev his engine up once more. But it was for nought, for the car went out with a whimper before stopping dead again.
I bit my lip and made my way over to Marui's side. "…..it's not working?" Please tell me it's a joke, please tell me it's a joke, I don't wanna get stranded out here at this time of the night…
Marui shook his head and angrily slapped his car wheel once before getting out with a huff. "Dead as a roadkill."
First my shoe, and now this? Did we disturb the resting place of some ghost or something upon entering?
"It must be from the time Akaya wrecked it and we sent it for repairs…those guys must not have done a goob job, obviously. I'm going to need a word with them when I get back." He near hissed and rummaged in his pocket for his phone.
I remained silent as I watch his lavender eyes burn in bright fury, snapping at the other person on the line as soon as they picked up.
"Jackal!!"
….poor Jackal. Does Marui always pick on him for everything? Like, he already owed him so much from their school days together, to think that he still relies on that kind Brazilian man right now even.
"I'm stranded out here man, come and pick us up!" Marui whined into the phone and I waited as he argued it out to Jackal and explained his situation.
It was several minutes later before his phone snapped shut.
Regarding me with his now cooled eyes, he told me what was happening. "Jackal's coming to pick us up…he wasn't too happy that he has to get up and change at this time of the night." Running his fingers into his hair, he sighed.
I gave a small snort. "Anyone would be angry at being called out of their home at 11pm."
"Hm...yea…"
I leaned against the car and waited patiently as Marui paced about, slowly losing patience. Jeez, he really is like a kid. I don't even understand my own treacherous heart for even being teeny weensy bit jealous of Ruriko over a guy like him. Which is why I strongly hope- and know- I will soon forget about anything I feel for him; totally not worth it.
I straightened out of my slouch when Marui suddenly began walking down the road leading to the turning out of this place. "H-hey~! Where are you-" He cut me off.
"No point just standing here. Let's walk towards the road back, and Jackal will see us sooner than if we wait for him to drive all the way here. This place is pretty far off from where he is."
"But what about your car?"
"Leave it. I'll have them tow it down to the repair shop tomorrow morning."
…so he's just going to leave it here?! "What if someone steals it?!"
He rolled his beautiful eyes which were illuminated by the moon. "It's dead Kumiko-chan. And no one comes here anymore, so its pretty safe. Besides, there isn't a really high chance that if a person comes across it and wants to steal it, he would know how to hotwire a car. So it's safe here for now." Twisted as it is, he did make sense. So with great reluctance, I trailed after him, dropping my heels beside the car; no use for them anymore anyways. I probably will not wear heels after this, seeing their unreliability.
It was a 20 minute walk just to get to the end of the road, before we arrived at the highway. And my feet were starting to itch and hurt by then.
Marui looked around and did not see any cars in sight and sighed. "What's taking Jackal so long…?"
Checking my watch, I saw that it was already 11:35pm…explains why my eyes were becoming droopy. Waking up at 7am and trying to stay awake near midnight is no easy task- for me at least…not to mention the glass of red wine I had just now.
Stifling a yawn, I continued after Marui who clearly is itching to just get back home to do whatever it is he wants to do.
As he walked, Marui sneaked a glance up at the dark sky, and only frowned when he saw darker clouds. "I swear, if it rains, I'm going to kill Akaya…"
"This isn't Kirihara-san's fault…" I defended the seaweed head host lethargically.
"Partly his." He shrugged. "If he could just drive in the first place, I wouldn't have a broken engine right now. Though those repairmen are to blame as well."
I rolled my eyes, but could not help the small smile that flitted across my face. I swear this guy's brain works with him in the center of the world…oh wait, is that Atobe instead? ….hard to tell.
15 minutes later, and I was visibly slowing down and it wasn't too long before I came to a stop completely. "Marui…can we stop and just wait for Kuwahara-san here?" I could not help the small whine in my voice.
He raised an eyebrow at me and stopped in his place ahead of me. "Why?"
Shaking my head, I pointed at my feet, which were now red and slightly bruised from that accursed stone, asphalt and dirt path I had to trudge through. "My feet hurts." I explained shortly.
Marui's mouth pulled to the side as he stared at me in despair, and I could only return it with a frown of my own. "Is it so hard to just sit still and wait for awhile?!"
He looked as if he was about to pull at his hair. "It's so boooring just sitting around!"
"Play your phone games or something!"
"Phone games are so lame!"
"Well--!! I'm not moving! You walk for 40 minutes without your shoes first and see how it feels!" I crossed my arm and looked away from him with a huff. I was nearing the end of my patience after a long day and night; I'm really tired, and all I want is to lie backing my comfy bed and sleep. I still have to wake early tomorrow morning!!
I heard Marui sigh, but I closed my eyes and refused to look at him, in case he gets us caught up in another one of his childish arguments.
"Here."
At that though, I had to open my eyes to see what he was doing, and I blinked in surprise and shock before pink crept across my skin.
"W-what are you—"
"You're tired, aren't you?" He said, glancing back at me with one eye. "And your feet hurts. And I don't feel like sitting around. So this works fine, doesn't it?"
He made sense but…
"I-I'm wearing a dress though!" I bricked myself mentally for such a lame excuse.
He rolled his eyes, apparently having the same thoughts about my previous sentence. "No one's going to look up your dress here, alright?! No one's even around anyways! And my eyes will be glued at the front so I can't see it anyways even if I want to."
I spluttered and cried out at him indignantly. "W-what do you mean you want to?!!"
"Oh for--! I didn't say I want to!!" Furious lilac turned on me, and I thought I caught a telltale hint of pink dusting his cheek; but I think it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, seeing how tired I was. This guy was as bad as Niou when it comes to perversion anyways. He closed his eyes and turned away with a short snap. "Just get on already!"
Biting my lips and with great reluctance, I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind and I felt his hand hold the bottom of my thigh; before I knew it, my sore feet were off from the ground, the night wind caressing it from its new height.
Marui walked slower with me on his back, and I turned red as I softly apologized to him for being heavy.
He laughed and said, "You're lighter than Akaya, that's for sure."
We were silent after that, not a single word passing between us other than when Marui informed me he was going to shift grip for a bit. Then we were back into our silent bubble, trudging along a silent road and night- where many and most were all asleep.
Unlike most men who wore some sort of strong cologne that made my nose wrinkle up in sensitivity, Marui had a sweet and tangy smell to him. It reminded me of strawberries and melons. Unconsciously, a smile filled my lips as I took in a soft breath, his scent filling my senses.
It was a really nice scent.
We were on open highway/road, and so the wind blew often, causing goose bumps to bloom across my skin, and I instinctively brought myself closer to the only other source of warmth here.
I blushed when I realized though and retracted again. "S-sorry…"
He shook his head, gaze still set in front as he walked. "It's alright. I don't mind."
Hesitantly, I brought myself back, the need for warmth overpowering my embarrassment.
I resisted leaning my head against his back however, thinking that'll be completely rude of me as he's walking whilst carrying me and I'll also be guilty of being comfortable as he did this.
So I tried to start a conversation to keep myself awake and from being too relaxed in his hold. "D-does Kuwahara-san live that far from here?" I asked.
Marui shrugged and nodded his head. "Yea…I suppose. Far enough anyways. And there's usually lot of traffic in the center of town at this time, and he has to get through that to get to us…damn those night-ghosts." He muttered referring to the late-goers and I raised a dubious eyebrow at him.
"Aren't you guys partly to blame too though? Host clubs usually open until late after midnight…"
"Yea but not us. We only open till very late during certain and special occasions, but other than that, Atobe does not wish to jeopardize the safety of the women who visits us and tries to close on time so they are still able to get home safely before all those menacing wolves come out."
I smiled at this and a warm feeling fluttered into my heart at his words. "Atobe-san is a very considerate man, isn't he?"
Marui gave a scoff. "Yea he is, to an extent. That guy's ego is as big as the earth itself."
"So are yours." The words left my mouth before I could stop myself.
"Hey, don't make me drop you." He frowned, turning around to look at me. "Besides, I have the rights. I'm a genius~"
I didn't exactly register his words however, as I was too busy focusing on his eyes, which have I mentioned were extremely beautiful? They were so bright and jovial and always, always full of mirth; mischievous and cheeky, yes, but that's what makes them stand out. Stand out to me.
My face was extremely warm, and that was what brought me out of my reverie as well, in addition to the sound of drums – or is it my heart?- beating in my ears.
"Hey, you alright?" He asked and I stiffened.
"Y-yea! W-why do you ask?"
"You were just out of it just now, and didn't say anything even if I was talking to you…was there something on my face?" He asked, eyebrows raising into his hairline.
"N-no…," But there is a pair of magnificently beautiful eyes there, "I-I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"….class."
Marui groaned and turned around to look at me again. But I was prepared this time I directed my eyes to the sky above. "Is that all you ever think about? Classes and homework?!"
"No!…I have my duties and responsibilities to my parents though…"
He gave a short laugh, eyes rolling heavenwards and focused on the same sky as mine. "Glad I'm such a genius that I don't need to go to college…"
"Hosts don't exactly need quantum mechanics to work you know." I commented sarcastically in response.
"Yea, but we still need the brains to entertain our customers with. And Atobe has pretty high standards for his hosts! He made us all take this exam which we had to get a minimum score before he even considers out applications!"
My jaw dropped and I stared at him with incredulous eyes, gaze tearing away from the starless night. "You're serious?"
"Very serious."
"Wow…" Atobe's host club is serious business. But I still didn't understand, if he was already rich to begin with, why did he begin a work line such as this anyway? It's not as if he needed extra money.
I would try to come up with scenarios regarding that, but my brain was too fried right now to do so. Unbeknownst to me, I was yawning as I wondered sluggishly about Atobe and his host club previously.
"Jeez, what time do you sleep?!" Marui laughed when he saw me yawning and I frowned at him.
"It's not that I sleep late, but it is late and I wake early! Unlike some people…"I grumbled, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to get the sleep out.
"Well, Jackal should be arriving soon, so you'll be back in no time with enough hours probably to recharge your system. Speaking of which, I'm going to call and wake Akaya up when I get back, just as payback for destroying my car before. I'm going to make him cover the pay for the repair again this time—"
~***~
My voice trailed off as I realized that she wasn't listening.
She had fallen asleep.
Shaking my head in amusement and slight contempt at her lack of vigor and energy, I stopped in my tracks to shift her in my grip again. Here I was, carrying her and walking at the same time for the past god knows how long, and I'm still perfectly fine and awake~! Yet, she's dozing off like a delinquent student in class, or rather, Akaya in class.
I craned my neck around to check on her, and wake her up because I was bored and needed someone to talk with. But peace has laid itself over her façade, shy and dark brown eyes closed off from the world. I decided not to wake her, upon seeing how peaceful she is. Heck, even I'm not that evil to wake up a person just cause I'm bored. I might do it if it was Akaya or Niou, and sometimes even Jackal, but Kumiko doesn't deserve such treatment. She was a really nice girl.
Her breaths came out in long and slow puffs, cheek pressed up gently against my shoulder. Against the night sky with only the moon to shine down upon us and the occasional road lamps, her skin glowed in a ghostly ethereal beauty.
Ishimaru Kumiko…was a strangely unique person, I'll have to say.
Why I have to say it, I wasn't too sure. It's like a gut feeling; like you were doing an exam question and was deciding whether to answer A, B,C or D. But you go ahead of C because you just know that it's right, even if you're not sure why.
Or in the words of a famous play character, "I don't know why I know why."
Many girls and women I have met were more beautiful and prettier than her, and even smarter and more talented. But there was just something about her that separated her from them, like how she's separated from Ruriko. Good or bad, I don't know.
I tore my gaze away from her and to the front when I heard a car honk. Up ahead, I saw Jackal's car heading towards us, and with much eagerness, I made my way forward, making sure to not rock too much lest I wake the sleeper on my back.
His car lights beamed upon us and I had to screw my eyes shut momentarily to banish it away. I felt Kumiko shift behind me.
Jackal got out of his car and casted me a furious glare, folded hands drumming rapidly against his arms. I grinned cheekily and gave a nervous laugh. Oooh…he wasn't happy, that's for sure. "Sorry, Jackal. I'll make it up to you."
"You never do, Bunta." He sighed. "Come on, get in."
"Alright…can you open the back door for me?" I asked, and when he gave me an incredulous look, I nodded to Kumiko behind me.
"Oh…sure." He said, noticing that she was asleep before opening the door.
As he made his way back to the driver's side, I tried to tuck Kumiko into the backseat without waking her, although it was hard to do.
But it seemed she was a heavy sleeper of some sort, for she didn't wake, even after I lost balance for a moment and nearly fell over her. I sighed in relief, for she would have screamed in my face and probably slapped me if she woke and saw that.
Making sure that she wont roll off the seat as the car drove, I was about to extract myself from the backseat when I heard her murmur softly.
I blinked, thinking she was awake but she wasn't. I got out and closed the door and opened the passenger seat's door.
"Stupid redheaded pig, thanks for dinner….huh, who knew she sleep talked?" I smirked, before sliding in and closing the door after me.
Noticed I changed my name to kuryujiru guys? D; Yea...MaruiBuntaWorshipper kinda made me sound like some freakish stalker and a retarded 10 year old haha x-x
Hmhmhm- I tried to make mention of Kumiko's family a bit here, since I was having this little….shall we say "Parents Arc" planned? XD I'm not too sure if I should execute it, but just in case I do lol
whee 171 reviews~!! Thank you all of you XD I'm sure you're all sick of me saying that by now but I cant help it haha I just get so happy everytime I open my inbox to find I have new reviews XD
slowdanse- haha thats alright XD you commented now, didnt you?! *hug* aww and it makes me really happy to hear that my story is your fave PoT fic XD I didnt veen think I'd make it onto a faves list when I started, ever! haha And yes, I love Shiraishi too XD I'm hoping to make a ShiraishiXKumiko side story connected to this in the future, possibly XD Or maybe even make it part of the story rather than a side haha it'll be good initiative for Marui to get into action anyways XD And I'm sorry the other hosts didnt make much appearance D; it's hard to juggle so many characters and give them all equal screentime D: but...Jackal appeared here for a bit! XD
Cyanide- sorry if you found her depressing D: I guess most of the time as I wrote this, I was in a stage of turmoil in my life and reading The Bell Jar (suicide and all in that book) =/ well, not everyone is a happy-go-lucky character though. And Kumiko definitely isn't one lulz I just needed someone to offset all the cheer Pot characters have lolz And yea…Club Celestial haha its not really related to the story XD though maybe in the future I might make it a real working Club in the story haha though right now there's already too many hosts to juggle around and give screen time to D; umm other than Eiji…there's Fuji though! He's in Club Sacred and appeared once…XD; Sorry if you wanted more Seigaku, but its just that Seigaku isn't really my fave school = (they don't make it to my fave lists either x_X)
Lady Ladington- XXD glad you like that sentence haha I was going to write something like patriarchy but then decided it'll make him too...macho haha as thick and pompous as his head is, we all love him for it XD And I found as I wrote this chapter, I'm extremeeely horrible, at fluff D:
Kouyan- XD your wait is over haha lool you lost a chance to request something and possibly see it in action! D;
MaruiBuntaWorshipper Fan- people dont have to slam the doors in my face, I walk into them on my own x-X ...and you might want to change your review name now as well, since I changed mine XD
KaorusDevil- aww I'd have love to put your request in, but then, its kinda out of character for Shiraishi to...uh...stalk them XD; perhaps next time ;D maybe it might even be Marui doing the stalking haha
Emy- *hug* thank youXD
PhoenixRage92- yea, I didnt like the last chapter much too D; it was so...lame lol I hope this chapter was better though *crosses fingers and toes*
Ami H- haha you write down all the quotes? XD thats surprising lol I thought people just read them or skim over them and forget about it XD
Skull Rider- I always get deja vu XD *glomp* thank youu, glad you enjoyed it XD I wasnt too happy with the last chapter honestly x_X
xHakumeix- not exactly lost here, but stranded=lost anyways XD to me at least haha its hard for me to make them get lost, since Marui probably knows where he's going and has GPS in his phone anyways XD And yes, I heard that Shiraishi bit a lot haha I'm trying to work him into the story more, but then I fear if I do that, this story might switch away from Marui and towards our dear Bible haha but we'll see =D Shiraishi is my second fave right after Marui, so i definitely hope to have him in future chapters XD